Coffee Shop Cinderella
by ghoulsbestfriend
Summary: He didn't know her name, the girl who comes in every noon and orders the same thing every time. The girl who loves witty banter and has the rarest, most amazing smile he had ever seen. Coffee shop Cinderella, as she came to be called. If only he had the guts to ask for her name, much less ask her out. TxT. AU
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I bet y'all thought I was fucking around when I said I was going to write a Coffee Shop AU. Well, I wasn't, it just takes more time for me to write it 'cause I keep procrastinating and my life is kinda falling apart right now.**

 **First fanfic of the year! Hell yeah! (other updates will come soon i sWEAR)**

 **This story isn't really that long, probably about a minimum of five chapters. There's not much to work with on this simple premise, and I'm not the best at one shots either. So ye.**

* * *

Coffee Shop Cinderella

He didn't know her name, the girl who comes in every noon and orders the same thing every time. The girl who loves witty banter and has the rarest, most amazing smile he had ever seen. Coffee shop Cinderella, as she came to be called. If only he had the guts to ask for her name, much less ask her out. TxT. AU

* * *

"This is your new co-worker," says his manager, both hands on the newbie's shoulder as he introduces the kid to his employees. "Timbo Butson-"

"It's Timothy Watson-" the newbie interrupts timidly. Red, thick glasses, choppy orange brown hair, and a clumsy smile. The only reason he worked here was so he can buy the new VR Goggles.

The manager continues to speak, if he just didn't hear him through his loud voice or just didn't care, Timothy didn't know. "So I want you guys to make him feel welcomed working and show him de wae[1] around here."

Both of his apparent co-workers nods and the manager leaves. Without a word, his female coworker walks away, leaving him with only the male one, who seemed friendly enough.

"Sorry 'bout that, Tim. The guy has an attention span of a goldfish," says his co-worker as he grabs a rag to wipe on the table. A guy about Timmy's age, brown hair brushed to the side, and a smile that could make any girl swoon. Now he knows for sure why women flock to this place. "He called me Brian the first month I worked here."

"Oh,"

"The name's Brandon, by the way," he continues, "and that," he throws his thumb over his shoulder, pointing at the girl on the counter, on her phone with her earphones on. She also looked to be his age, pale skin and dark blue, nearly black hair that reminded him of midnight. "Is Musa. Don't bother her when she's wearing earphones."

"Okay," Timmy says, nodding as he looks around the shop.

It is a rather old coffee shop, two, maybe three decades old, the building was older, he is sure. There was just this antique feel to it, no matter how many times the owners and their predecessors renovated and redecorated it to be modern and hip, there was just this lingering smell of dust and some creaks from aging wood from time to time. There was also this rumor since he was young, something about a ghost in the attic of this building, but he's pretty sure it's just several generations of mice frolicking around an attic that hasn't seen the light of day for 50 years.

Still, it is still doing quite well despite the rise of many competitors. Hipsters, for example, seem to love this place for obvious reasons. There were also other people, like late businessmen or women, tourists who came for 'history', and many more.

Musa looks at her watch, "we need to open up soon."

"Ah, right," Brandon turns to Timmy, "get ready, today is a busy day."

* * *

Brandon isn't lying at all when he said it was a busy day.

"One hazelnut cappuccino for this stunning young lady!" He half yells, half flirts as he entertains a young woman and her friends, a flirty smile on his face while Timmy and Musa runs around in the background trying to get all the orders out. Several costumers are still impatiently waiting for their turn.

Once the cappuccino was given and paid for, Musa pulls Brandon by the collar before he could flirt anymore and pushes Timmy towards the counter. "This is a cafe, not a goddamn Host Club[3]. Timmy, you'll be in charge of the counter. Maybe then, we'll get shit done."

And so they did.

Sure, Timmy isn't used to taking orders and he did get some orders wrong, but, they made through it. The calm after the storm. The light at the end of the tunnel. Costumers are now either seated contentedly with their pastries and laptops or left with their overly complicated cappuccinos. The three of them could now breathe.

But then the bell rings from the entrance, and Timmy straightens out his posture, prepared to serve whoever it may be. Unbeknownst by him, Musa began to prepare something in the background.

The first thing he notices was the distinctively bright magenta hair in a bob cut. Teal eyes glued to the screen, yet she still walked with no trouble, going straight to the counter as if she had already done it a hundred times before. Face stoic, devoid of any discernible emotion. To be honest, she seems a bit intimidating. Regardless, Timmy cleared his throat.

"Hello, what may-"

"The usual, please," her voice is like her face, emotionless and monotone, straight to the point. She has yet to look up.

Timmy blinks, "Um, I beg your pardon-"

"Here you go," Musa swiftly slides into the conversation, handing the girl a cup of...something, to which she accepts and pays for. Timmy turns to Musa with a confused look. "Oh, she's a regular,"

Finally, the girl looks up. "A new recruit?" She asks in slight distaste, not looking at him at all.

"Yup," Musa says, wiping on the table counter.

"Oh," the girl says, turning to look at him. Their eyes meet briefly, and Timmy thought she was going to converse with him, say her name or ask how he's been, but she doesn't. Instead, her lips forms into a sneer, as if mocking him, before she turns and leaves with her coffee, deciding he was not worth her time.

The bell rings, signalling her departure. Timmy frowns, one thing in his mind.

What an unlikable girl.

* * *

 **[1]- Ugandan Knuckles meme. I'm not sorry at all.**

* * *

 **A/N: Tried a different verb tense for this. Not proud tho.**

 **Also, sorry if Tecna is kinda a bitch in this chapter. Not everyone's love stories began with love at first sight, hair flips and slo-mo walking, I mean, look at how Tecna and Timmy met in the comics. Great moves, Timmy. Keep it up. Proud of you.**

 **I haven't posted in this account in such a long time that I've forgotten how to end a chapter.**

 **Um, I hope you enjoyed reading?**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Ummm I'm probably going to mess this up.**

 **Note: an ellipses (or three dots) means that it's the next day or a couple of days passed, whichever one you prefer. A line break thingy without the ellipses means that it takes place roughly at the same day, just in a different place or point of view.**

 **Come, let's begin!**

* * *

"You again?"

It was now the second day of his new job, and things were going well quite well so far, the mean and unlikable girl from yesterday had long been out of his mind. Unfortunately, that didn't last long as soon as the bell chimed and he could see distinct pink hair.

Musa already had her hands full with a tourist's overly complicated order, and Brandon was flirting with a pretty blonde girl that he assumed was the brunette's girlfriend. So the person left to deal with her was...him.

Her voice was filled with fake surprise and dread, as if she expected him to be fired as soon as possible or something.

"Um, I work here," he said as calmly as possible, yet he couldn't hide the reddening of his cheeks in embarrassment. And she quickly took notice of it.

"Rightt," she nearly drawled, finally looking up and rolling her eyes. She looked around, seeing as the others were already doing other things, she sighed, turning to him. "A caramel macchiato, please." She made it sounded like ordering was a hassle of a chore.

He quickly prepared it for her, but not without nearly slipping and messing up. Nonetheless, the beverage was prepared, and she just as quickly paid for it.

"Not bad," she said after taking a wary sip, as if he had poisoned the drink. Sure, it may not look the most pleasing, but it tasted the same! At least, he thought so...

Without another word, the bell at the door chimed, signalling her departure.

* * *

...

 _Jimmy Bulton._ His new name tag read.

Timmy frowned, red tinting his cheeks as he adjusted his name tag, even though he wanted nothing more than to get rid of this because whoever this Jimmy guy is, it's not him.

It was nearing noon and their manager had the nerve to arrive at that time, apparently he had something for them.

"Hope ya like it, Tommy!" said his manager who he's sure is probably high because no one has this kind of terrible logic at all. He looked around, apparently name tags were now mandatory and so Musa and Brandon got theirs as well, or should he say, _Meta_ and _Bruno_. "You too, Mei and Behemo[1]!"

"This is ridiculous." Meta- Mei- Musa muttered as soon as the manager left. She took off her name tag and hid it in her pocket, Brandon did the same. Timmy was about to do it too, until the bell chimed. A costumer.

It was the mean and unemotional girl.

Fortunately, Brandon already took it upon himself to prepare the drink for her. Timmy expected her to scoff, sneer even at Brandon like she did him. But she didn't.

Brandon served the beverage with his cheesy-ass smile and flirty words, though for some reason it's more playful and familiar, like it was some inside joke between friends, and she gladly played along with her deadpan replies.

"Thank you," she paid for the drink and left. She didn't exactly smile or emote, but her words were warm and familiar as if she considered Brandon a friend, when Timmy doubted she even considered him human.

Timmy bit his lip, pondering. So it was possible to get on her good side after all...

Well, if that's the case, then let him take it upon himself to get on that good side.

Maybe it will be worth it.

* * *

...

As his eccentric but well-intentioned mad scientist of a mother had told him time and time again, "a smile is the most basic way go get into a girl's heart, well that or through the rib cage if we were to be practical, maybe even-" she added something inappropriate soon after, but Timmy had buried that part in the deepest parts of his mind long ago as a way to prevent trauma.

So, smiles indeed.

He insisted to Musa and Brandon that he'd serve her for today. He made sure not to mess up today, not too much nor too little of something, just right. Perfect.

"Here you go!" His voice was so (forced) cheery and loud that she almost dropped her phone. She looked up and Timmy had to force the most charming smile he could muster, and he wasn't sure at that moment if he looked like the most charming guy on earth or was about to have a seizure. But there was no way of knowing as her expression is near unreadable.

"...what are you doing?" Her voice sounded monotone. Her lips were still firmly thinned, facial muscles relaxed, eyes half-lidded and suggested nothing but boredom and I-have-somewhere-else-to-be-and-you're-wasting-my-time.

He dropped his smile and gave the beverage in defeat. "...Nothing."

She paid for her drink and left. She didn't look impressed at all.

Timmy sighed. He'll try harder next time.

* * *

...

Timmy tried harder. It still didn't work.

If there ever was a Most-unimpressed-and-unemotional-girl-of-the-year Award, unemotional girl would definitely win.

He wasn't the best at reading human emotions, far from it in fact, but how he couldn't read what the girl thought of him just frustrated him.

* * *

...

Today, Timmy learned that you could tell a lot about a person just by looking into their eyes. It wasn't something he noticed sooner like most people, unfortunately.

He noticed it in the way Brandon's eyes lit up brighter than the sun itself when his blonde bombshell of a girlfriend surprise-visits him during work. Or how Musa's eyes flash in annoyance every time a costumer orders something unnecessarily specific and complicated.

And so, he decided to try this on the emotionless girl who comes in every noon for caramel macchiato and doesn't lift a muscle on her face.

He already had her drink ready by the time he saw her out the window, phone in hand, her face straight. Straight-faced girl[2], yeah. That's what he'll call her from now on, at least until he learns of her real name.

He tried to smile a charming smile to her again, and his wonder of whether he looked charming or had a seizure was answered as soon as he looked into her eyes.

It was the latter. Definitely.

He had to admit, he was amazed at her ability to hold back emotions. But her eyes didn't lie, they were definitely laughing at him. And he didn't care.

At least he knew she felt things, and wasn't just some android or a government experiment gone wrong. Well, time to check those off the list.

"Here you go," he said it in the smoothest voice he could muster.

"Thank you."

The bell rang, but he didn't hear it, and instead was stunned at the new development.

Did she just say 'thank you'?

Yes, yes she did.

* * *

"I swear, he is as charming as a rusted frying pan," Musa said shortly to Brandon after straight-faced girl left and Timmy wiped the counters like an absentminded idiot, or 'wonderstruck', as her poetic and romantic guy friend with feminine hair would probably say. But she wasn't poetic, so she's going to call him an absentminded idiot regardless.

Brandon was texting his girlfriend, she couldn't read it and she didn't want to but the heart and kissing emojis didn't lie. "But she likes it."

Musa was silent for a moment, before heaving a sigh.

"I guess."

* * *

...

A new breakthrough occurred today.

Straight-faced mean girl smiled.

It now had become a normal routine for him to serve her her daily coffee and for her to remark either something blunt or witty, and for him to say something witty back. For them, it was just witty banter, but for others...err, it looked more than that, certainly.

He didn't even remember what he said, something about caramel and being too sweet, but he could recall her face too accurately. The way she had been caught off guard, her eyes widening so briefly, the very faint flush on her cheeks, and the even more brief curvature of her lips.

A smile.

It was the kind of smile that reached her eyes, making it look crinkled and brighter than it already was. It was one of the sweetest and genuine smiles out there, contagious too, making him smile as well, though it was more lopsided and silly.

But like all good things, her smile was brief as she quickly covered it with a hand. Why would she want to cover something so beautiful? "Well, see you." She said eventually, paying for her beverage. And with the chime of the bell, she was gone.

Like Cinderella, he mused.

* * *

...

"You have a nice smile, you know," he said as he handed straight-faced girl her daily dose of caffeine. "You should do it more often."

This caught her off guard, stepping back and nearly dropping the drink. He frowned, did she not get that compliment often?

"I don't see the point," she said after regaining her composure, tucking a stray piece of pink hair behind her ear. "I don't smile unless I have a legitimate reason or I feel it's necessary."

"That's not fun,"

"Life's not meant to be fun."

"That's rather edgy for you to say."

It was slight and brief, yet he didn't fail to see the edge of her lips curve up a little bit, just the tiniest bit and yet he loved it.

"Well," he said, resting his elbows on the counter, looking up at her with a smile, "if you really need a reason, then let me take it upon myself to give you reasons to smile."

One of her brows rose, showing her confusion and why-even-bother-with-me face. "You're such a corny dork," she sighed eventually and shook her head, taking a sip of her drink and walking out the door.

The bell chimed for the umpteenth time, and he sighed as he wiped the counters.

Timothy Watson wasn't the best at reading other people and their emotions, he knew that and she knew that and everyone knew that. But, seeing her eyes smile when he asked that...

He had a feeling it was a yes.

* * *

 **A/N: Welp. This was longer than I thought.**

 **Is this rushed? Is the pacing off? I really don't want to drag the story on *cough* like love is not a video game *cough*. Is the characters too OOC? I know Timmy is kinda off compared to how I portrayed him before (a spineless loser to an eager dork) but I do prefer how he is now.**

 **There's little to no witty banter because I don't know how to witty banter because I'm a friendless loserrrrrrr (not really, but still).**

 **The references:**

 **1- this is the only reason (well there's another but still) that I included the scene in the first place, bc references. Whoever can tell which series the names belong to then you have my respect because the series is so underrateddddd.**

 ** _2-_** **Straight-Faced Science Girl by Len Kagamine, enough said. I've always wanted to write a txt fic based on the song but it's too kinky (not that kinky a bad thing, it's just not my thing), but who knows, maybe I'll change my mind...**

 **Umm I don't remember what else to say so,**

 **I hope you enjoyed reading!**


End file.
